Rush Announce R40 Live 40th Anniversary Tour [SPOILERS]

[Powerage5]

The only reason I mention The Camera Eye and Natural Science is because they're listed in the tourbook for video credits in the set (according to the leak). I don't know. They also listed YYZ, so who knows?

Then I'd say those are all good bets. YYZ for Red Barchetta, Jacob's Ladder for Natural Science, not sure about The Camera Eye.

[Powerage5]

Already audio up on Dime. And people complaining about the setlist in the comments. lol k.

I'll write up a full review on my flight today, either post it during my layover or when I get home.

[ZoSoRose]

How can anyone possibly complain about the setlist?

[Powerage5]

I honestly think I'm gonna try to add one or two more shows, maybe Toronto 2 and Newark. It was that good.

[ZoSoRose]

Can you do detroit? Ill sit with you. All my friends already bought seats

[gunsfanoldie]

I know I'll sound like a Debbie Downer, but as expected, I wasn't convinced. I'm sure its amazing at the show, and in fairness it is a good well balanced set, but not enough to get me there. On the tour I saw, I already got Far Cry, Subdivisions, Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, and Spirit Of The Radio. So aside from the new songs on Clockwork Angels, there's nothing I need through the first 13 songs. I know people really wanted them, but Jacob's Ladder and Cygnus aren't musts for me. I like them, but don't love them. Neither is Xanadu (I know, what kind of Rush fan am I?!!).

As expected, the end is the killer for me. 2112 4 parts of the 7. Thats really cool, but again I saw Parts 1 and 2 last time. If it was the full thing (which was unrealistic) it would mean a lot more to me. Encore is amazing, although all songs I wouldn't necessarily pick. Lakeside Park is cool but nothing more than "eh" for me (I'd prefer I Think I'm Going Bald), Anthem is also cool but again, if we're talking about Fly By Night, I want By Tor, I want In The End, I want Best I can. Anthem isn't my #1 from that album, which is the same for What You're Doing on album 1. In The Mood, Take A Friend, Finding My Way. Those are just what I want. I have nothing against Working Man, and with Garden Road thats fucking awesome.

So as usual for me, half the set is great, half the set I couldn't care less about. And of the half I like, I saw 7 of those 13 on the Time Machine Tour (and on that tour I also got Camera Eye, La Villa Stranigato, Freewill which equates to a better "half setlist" than this current one). So while it looks like a great show, and I applaud the effort to get everything, it was always unrealistic they'd fully satisfy my selfish needs. Basically only one song off all the albums I like, and they are usually the hits or opening tracks, besides Lakeside Park which is a true hidden gem. I'll see what they switch out, but this set is essentially what Rush has been for me for 10 years (as long as I've been a fan). Good, but not amazing, and not enough for me to buy the high ticket price.

Edited May 9, 2015 by gunsfanoldie

[ZoSoRose]

Few questions for P5,

Did Geddy sing at all during Hemispheres (Prelude) and Cygnus X-1 or was the whole Cygnus sequence instrumental?

Which solos did Alex do on 2112?

What were Neil's drum solos like?

[Powerage5]

Few questions for P5,

Did Geddy sing at all during Hemispheres (Prelude) and Cygnus X-1 or was the whole Cygnus sequence instrumental?

Which solos did Alex do on 2112?

What were Neil's drum solos like?

Hemispheres had vocals, Cygnus X-1 didn't.

Not sure what you mean by the solos on 2112? But they played the 4 parts as they are on the studio version, so solos in Overture, Presentation, and Grand Finale.

[ZoSoRose]

Few questions for P5,

Did Geddy sing at all during Hemispheres (Prelude) and Cygnus X-1 or was the whole Cygnus sequence instrumental?

Which solos did Alex do on 2112?

What were Neil's drum solos like?

Hemispheres had vocals, Cygnus X-1 didn't.

Not sure what you mean by the solos on 2112? But they played the 4 parts as they are on the studio version, so solos in Overture, Presentation, and Grand Finale.

Cool! Thanks

[OmarBradley]

As expected, the end is the killer for me. 2112 4 parts of the 7. Thats really cool, but again I saw Parts 1 and 2 last time. If it was the full thing (which was unrealistic) it would mean a lot more to me.

Why not? If Slash plays a 23 minute solo from an already overrated song, there's no reason as to why Rush cannot perform 2112 in all its majesty.

This is the best Rush setlist I've seen in many many many years. I still probably won't go, but god damn: One Little Victory, Anthem, What You're Doing, Roll The Bones, Garden Road, most of 2112. Even though I basically hate all of 80's Rush, that's a damn good set.

[Powerage5]

Here's the first half of my review, set 1. I'll try to bounce out my set 2 review on my first flight.

Okay, drafting this review up at the Tulsa airport waiting for my flight to Atlanta. Feel like death, coming down with a flu or something - I certainly have a knack for getting sick at the end of a trip! Here goes.

Before I even get to the gig itself, the atmosphere in Tulsa the last few days has been awesome. I was seeing people in Rush shirts everywhere I went, heard Rush playing in a good number of stores/restaurants; it was very reminiscent of when Maiden plays a smaller city in Europe and the city is just completely overrun by fans. It was very clear even from my layover in Atlanta on the way here that A LOT of fans were traveling to see the opening night - I had like 5 or 6 other people on my flight from Atlanta to Tulsa. It was a great experience, and I've never seen anything like it anywhere else in the US before any concert.

Like I said the merch is fairly unexciting, mostly rehashed artwork and designs. The tour book cover is really cool though - it's got four black tally marks, with the fifth one going across them in red. All in all pretty disappointing though.

So on to the show itself. The lights went down around 7:45, so it was the usual late start for Rush. The set 1 intro video is projected on a giant screen covering the entire front of the stage. The video is an animated recap of Rush's career with the guys' looks transforming for each decade as the video went on. Nothing amazing, but it was cool for sure. The screen drew up like a theater curtain, and the show started with Clockwork Angels. I'll be really blunt - I didn't like Clockwork Angels as an opener at all. It's an excellent live song, but it's got a very poor flow for an opener. It's just so start-and-stop for an opener. The stage at this point was identical to the stage from Clockwork Angels. I'm not going to lie, seeing an identical stage to last tour as well as 3 CA songs open the set had me setting the bar pretty low for the rest of the show. I will say that it was nice to hear the CA songs without the orchestra - they sounded a lot more powerful, especially The Anarchist.

Geddy did his little talk break after Headlong Flight, and introduced Far Cry. It was about this time I figured they were going in reverse chronological order. It was also about this time they started changing over the stage a little bit. I think I mentioned earlier in the thread that they changed the stage to reflect the era they were in. They had guys in red jumpsuits like the MP album cover doing all the work. Over the course of the first set, they replaced the props on Geddy's side one by one with his washing machines from R30. On Alex's side they replaced those phonogram looking things with his amps with all the dinosaurs on top from Vapor Trails/R30. The combination of the staging and clear idea that the setlist was reverse chronological got me feeling much better. Speaking of staging, Far Cry had it's usual pyro in the middle of the song. The Main Monkey Business was next, and while I don't dislike the song, it definitely wouldn't be my top choice for a second song from Snakes & Arrows.

One Little Victory was the first song of the evening to get me really excited, it sounded phenomenal last night. Much better than I remember in 2007 and 2008. For what it's worth though, I could tell the crowd as a whole wasn't terribly excited about the show at this point. Admittedly, the first set is EXTREMELY taxing for casual fans, but the payoff in the second set was huge. OLV had the fireballs at the end of the song like usual. There was a little video clip of fans holding up various signs and album covers as they transitioned back into the 90's with Animate. Now, Counterparts is one of my least favorite Rush albums, but I've got to say Animate was awesome last night. Roll The Bones was up next, and featured a great video of all sorts of people miming along to the rap - I can't name everyone that was in it, but I know the Trailer Park Boys, Paul Rudd and Jason Segal, and Peter Dinklage were among them.

They closed out the first set with a pair of 80's songs, starting with Distant Early Warning. This was the first time in the show that the crowd unanimously seemed excited about what they were playing. And for me personally it was great too; I saw it back in 2007 but I just didn't have an appreciated for 80's Rush back then like I do now. Subdivisions was...Subdivisions. It's a great song, but I really don't need to say much about it other than it's probably my favorite song for them to end set 1 with. For the record, set 1 clocked in at about 65 minutes.

[Powerage5]

Here's my set 2 review. Apologies for both of these walls of text, but I think any question anyone could have is touched upon in these.

Set 2! Needless to say, it was a pretty safe assumption based on where set 1 left off that set 2 would be exciting no matter what they played. The stage curtain came down at the end of set 1 and during the intermission it displayed pictures related to the band and a play on words; first was a picture of the band and it said "Our 40", then the clock from Clockwork Angels and it said "Hour 40", then a Dalmatian and it said "Aarf 40", and finally the lights went back down and it showed Geddy dressed as a pirate and it said "Aargh 40". The set 2 intro video was called "No Country For Old Hens", and it was made up of outtakes from the intro videos from Snakes & Arrows, Time Machine, and Clockwork Angels. Eventually the South Park video came on, which served as the intro to Tom Sawyer like on Snakes & Arrows

Tom Sawyer works extremely well as a set 2 opener, especially when they don't have any new music to promote. And after the casual fans were somewhat starved for songs they knew in set 1, it was like the arena collectively lost their shit when Tom Sawyer started. At this point it's worth noting that during intermission the stage changed completely; all the stage props were gone and were replaced by wall-to-wall stacks of amps, for both Geddy and Alex. Over the course of set 2, the crew gradually took away some of the amps, until during the encore they were each only left with one half stack. Neil's kit changed during intermission - the set 2 kit is based on his 2112/AFTK era kit, complete with double kick drums, chimes, a glockenspiel, and no synth pad. Even the lighting rig changed to something more static to reflect how much more basic (Yet no less effective) the stage lighting was in the 70's. Red Barchetta followed as the second Moving Pictures song, and I was overjoyed it made the cut - it's one of my absolute favorite Rush songs. Of course the big surprise omissions were YYZ and Limelight.

The Spirit Of Radio followed Red Barchetta, and again the arena was in a frenzy. The Spirit Of Radio is one of those songs I could never get sick of; it's just too much fun live with all the crowd interaction. The second set was already off to a great start, but this is when it went from a great show to an amazing show. Geddy took another talk break and cracked a couple jokes ("Welcome to the first set. It's actually the second set, but it feels like the first set - that's how it goes on the opening night!"), and introduced Jacob's Ladder as "One of those long songs that slipped through the cracks that we've never played live". Obviously he forgot that it was played on the Permanent Waves tour (As did I since I posted here last night it was the live debut!). Jacob's Ladder was just absolutely fucking amazing - what else can be said about a Rush epic that hasn't been played in 35 years and you had no expectations of hearing? I do have to say though, I've always wondered why it's been avoided for so long - the vocals are few and they're comfortably inside Geddy's range nowadays.

Since Rush generally only does one big epic per tour, I figured the rest of the set would be shorter and/or less complex songs. Boy, was I wrong. Again, Hemispheres was not a song that was even on my radar of possibly being played this tour. Really, that could be said for most of the remainder of the setlist. Granted Hemispheres was only the Prelude, but getting to hear even 5 minutes of another long-lost epic (With vocals!) was a real treat. I think they tuned down for Hemispheres like they do for 2112 but I'm not positive - I was just in full-on fanboy hype mode by this point. Cygnus X-1 was next. It was about half the song with Neil's solo in the middle - basically everything up until the vocals would usually come in. I did expect Cygnus X-1 to be played in some manner, and I was very happy with the arrangement. Let's be realistic - no amount of tuning down would make it possible for Geddy to sing it in this day and age, plus it works extremely well as an instrumental IMO. Neil's solo was good - maybe about 4 minutes long? Longer than any of the solos for Clockwork Angels, but shorter than his usual length. The stage was all black except the lights on him - no videos screens at all during his solo. In general the video screens were getting used a lot less actually, surely part of the idea of adapting the stage to the era.

Closer To The Heart was the one mild break in the middle of all the epics, and it was great. Another hit I can never get tired of. Alex played the intro on 12 string acoustic like on Time Machine, however the rest of the arrangement was as it is on the album. I wish they had kept the last verse in half-time 6/8 like they did on Time Machine, loved that bit. Neil played his respective bits on glockenspiel and chimes, and it sounds SO much better than the synth pad. I know it wasn't ever practical to have them since the 70's, but it was such a great idea to bring them back.

Speaking of Neil's chimes, they added a huge amount to Xanadu. Xanadu signaled another major shift in the stage: the screens on either side of the stage now showed the arch work of the stage at Massey Hall, really nice touch. Xanadu was amazing live, another one I just never really expected to see live. And those double necks! It's worth noting at this point that I really can't pick a favorite moment in set 2 - it was all so incredible. Four parts of 2112 rounded out the main set, totaling about 12 minutes. I would've liked to see Discovery personally, but at least we got Presentation for the first time since 1997! Presentation sounded excellent by the way - Geddy sounded much better on it than on the Different Stages live album. In general, Geddy far surpassed my expectations. I don't know what he's doing different, but his voice was noticeably better than on Clockwork Angels.

The encore almost felt more like a mini set 3 than an encore. The curtain came down and showed a video of Geddy playing a bandstand-type show host, talking about how big a deal it was that these guys opened for KISS, and how if they stick around a few years they should add some more members, like a horn section. The curtain came up and the stage was now all red velvet drapes, like you'd expect to see on a bandstand in the 70's. And they played fucking Lakeside Park. I not only never expected to get a song from Caress Of Steel, but I never even dreamed about it in my ideal setlists! because it just seemed like that big of an impossibility. When was a COS song last played, like 1978 I think? Anthem was a big highlight if the show for me - one of the songs I thought Geddy wouldn't be able to handle at all, but he nailed it. He did change the melody to suit his current voice a little bit at times, but it sounded great regardless. Geddy did one more small talk break after Anthem "in character" for a 1974 Rush, talking about how excited they were to be in Oklahoma for the first time and how wonderful the crowd was. What You're Doing followed, and while it's not one of my favorites on the debut, it was nice to hear anything besides Working Man. I would've much preferred Finding My Way, but What You're Doing is probably one of the safer choices for Geddy that late in a show. At this point the video screens showed a high school gymnasium behind the band, and the band was down to the bare essentials on amps and Neil's kit. Finally they "broke character" for Working Man, pulling out all the stops in terms of lighting and visuals, and even dropping a crystal ball above the stage. Working Man was the original arrangement, not the reggae intro they've been doing lately. And then there's Garden Road - there's a lot of misconceptions all over the net over this. They did NOT play Garden Road, it was just a little 15 second tag at the end of Working Man, like they did Cygnus X-1 on Time Machine. Still cool, but it was more a nod to hardcore fans than anything. For what it's worth, at the end of the show Geddy did say "we hope to see you guys again soon". The outro video showed the band going back to their dressing room, only to be not let in by the AFTK King, saying there's a private party in there and their names aren't on the guest list. They show the inside of the room and it's all characters from album covers.

So final thoughts. Is it a good show?the answer to that is a resounding yes! The setlist and the stage show are absolutely top notch, even by Rush's standards. They manage to do something I've never really seen another band do, in trying to recreate not only the stage of historical eras in the band, but they try to recapture the atmosphere as well. And they're exceptionally good at it. The band is already firing on all cylinders, they clearly don't need a few gigs to get back into the groove as many bands do. Ives seen the opening night of a new tour for many of my favorite bands, and I can say without a doubt that Rush was the most rewarding in virtually every way. That's not to say I don't have some small gripes - namely, I wish they would come up with some new videos for the post-comeback material. They've been using the exact same video for Far Cry for 8 years now, and the video for One Little Victory for 13 years. They're getting stale, it's time for something fresh on the screens. I do think the first set could you some tweaking, but I'll reserve my judgement in that until we see what set B looks like tomorrow. But all things considered, if this is indeed the end of their touring career, it is one of the most fitting ends to this band that anyone could imagine!

[ChineseDemocracy2004]

I'm so jealous of you Americans right now. What a set!

[gunsfanoldie]

Appreciate the review Powerage. Really cool to read such an in depth and specific review of the show. For someone thats really dependent on setlist, it makes me really happy to see "the show" in general is still going strong (as expected but you never know when they'll lose it).

A day or two has softened my opinion of the set. It is very good, although I still stand by most of my opinions from earlier. I think for what it is, its the best set they've had since the R30 tour (again, as expected, because its encompassing everything so they HAVE to revisit early material). I still think the Time Machine tour show I saw was the best set for me (that second set and encores was just the best straight ahead run of songs they've had for my tastes), but this new show has made me revisit the albums and gotten me back in a Rush mode. I'm rewatching Beyond The Lighted Stage as I type this. So after all my criticism, I wouldn't be shocked if I show up at a show just because it'll be the last time. And as you noted, it seems the energy gets infectious whether you like the songs or not.

[Powerage5]

Honestly, I'd try to catch a show even if the whole setlist doesn't excite you. Visually, it really is a stunning show - one of the more ambitious arena shows I've ever seen.

Time Machine was an excellent setlist - a very close second to this IMO. Definitely my two favorite tours I've seen, and I'd argue the two best tours they've ever done based on recordings I've heard from other tours.

[gunsfanoldie]

Yeah, the show is definitely on my radar now. Luckily its kind of far off so I can wait till prices drop a bit, and with it also being Madison Square Garden that elevates it a bit to. Always a good show at the Garden and would love to see Rush in an arena, since when I saw Time Machine it was an outdoor amphitheater. My goal was be reasonable seats for a $60 price, so I'll see what I can find.

I'm tellin' ya, its really weird. I almost feel I can't go to another Rush show if Finding My Way isn't going to be a part of it. That song just means so much to me as probably my favorite song by the band, and I kind of promised myself if they aren't playing that, I won't see a second show from them. Which is crazy, but I just want early stuff like that so much. I'll probably break down and get tickets though cause this is as good as I'll get.

I'm really excited/hopeful for the rotators tonight. I think Alex said that'll definitely happen, and I think even if they weren't planning on it there will be so much demand that they won't be able to avoid it if its the same set tonight.

[dalsh327]

If you're a repeat customer of Rush, it's hard to be excited by the setlist but they always deliver a good show and hard not to have a good time, but they'd have to be crazy not to follow this up with a 2112 40th. This is also the kind of show you take people to see that never saw them before.

Here's a Peart interview from a couple of months back. They probably rehearse everything before each tour then weed stuff out, and it sounds like they're going to not be as picky. Not sure if that also means Flashback cuts will be in the tour.

[Powerage5]

So far tonight, The Wreckers replaced Clockwork Angels, and The Anarchist opened the show.

How It Is in place of One Little Victory. First ever live performance of How It Is.

Between The Wheels in place of Distant Early Warning.

The Camera Eye in place of Red Barchetta.

[Zeppelin]

So no Big Money, Natural Science, or YYZ. So, there's at least one more variation to come for the setlist, since the tourbook lists those three songs for video credits. Nice to see Between The Wheels get another spot in the setlist, but I wouldn't mind a different Grace Under Pressure song. Maybe something like The Enemy Within or Kid Gloves. But oh well. Just wishful thinking.

[gunsfanoldie]

Eh, none of those rotations were really any I needed. The Camera Eye would have been cooler if they didn't play it on the Time Machine tour. Still cool, but not as shocking. As for the early set, I don't think I would have taken any of the choices over what was there the first night. And sad to see that the 70s songs are the same. I guess that was to be expected although I was hoping maybe one of those 3 would switched.

I too am waiting for The Big Money. Thats one of the bigger glaring omissions to me so far.

[Powerage5]

I'm still not convinced Natural Science will rotate with Jacob's Ladder - I don't think they'd use a rotating song in two out of three setlists, but not the third. It's much more likely they'll have strict rotating slots where a song is played at every third gig.

[ZoSoRose]

Fuck, our High School's graduation is June 14th, the same date as Detroit. I think all staff has to be there.

It starts at 4 and I'm an hour and a half away from the venue...

EDIT- What time did they hit the stage, P5?

Edited May 11, 2015 by ZoSoRose

[Powerage5]

7:45. Tickets said 7:30. I know some shows the ticketed time got changed to 8 after they went on sale, so for those shows probably 8:15.

I was thinking about it on my way to work this morning. Clearly there will be 3 sets that rotate. Regarding Natural Science though, I'm thinking set B will get EITHER The Camera Eye or Natural Science. So for example, set A will always be Red Barchetta and set C will always be YYZ (Presumably), but every other set B show will be Natural Science.

[ZoSoRose]

Cool, I should just make it then.

Great way for me to end my job here

[Powerage5]

Tonight was the same as Tulsa, except The Anarchist stayed as the opener (Clockwork Angels in the second slot), and YYZ and Natural Science in place of Red Barchetta.